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Chile Geography Profile

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LocationSouthern South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Argentina and Peru
Geographic coordinates30 00 S, 71 00 W
Map referencesSouth America
Areatotal: 756,102 sq km

land: 743,812 sq km

water: 12,290 sq km

note: includes Easter Island (Isla de Pascua) and Isla Sala y Gomez
Area - comparativeslightly smaller than twice the size of Montana
Land boundariestotal: 7,801 km

border countries (3): Argentina 6691 km, Bolivia 942 km, Peru 168 km
Coastline6,435 km
Maritime claimsterritorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

continental shelf: 200/350 nm
Climatetemperate; desert in north; Mediterranean in central region; cool and damp in south
Terrainlow coastal mountains, fertile central valley, rugged Andes in east
Elevation extremeshighest point: Nevado Ojos del Salado 6,893 m (highest volcano in the world)

lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m

mean elevation: 1,871 m
Natural resourcescopper, timber, iron ore, nitrates, precious metals, molybdenum, hydropower
Land useagricultural land: 21.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 1.7% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.6% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 18.8% (2018 est.)

forest: 21.9% (2018 est.)

other: 57% (2018 est.)
Irrigated land11,100 sq km (2012)
Total renewable water resources923.06 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)
Natural hazards

severe earthquakes; active volcanism; tsunamis

volcanism: significant volcanic activity due to more than three-dozen active volcanoes along the Andes Mountains; Lascar (5,592 m), which last erupted in 2007, is the most active volcano in the northern Chilean Andes; Llaima (3,125 m) in central Chile, which last erupted in 2009, is another of the country's most active; Chaiten's 2008 eruption forced major evacuations; other notable historically active volcanoes include Cerro Hudson, Calbuco, Copahue, Guallatiri, Llullaillaco, Nevados de Chillan, Puyehue, San Pedro, and Villarrica; see note 2 under "Geography - note"

Geography - note

note 1: the longest north-south trending country in the world, extending across 39 degrees of latitude; strategic location relative to sea lanes between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage)

note 2: Chile is one of the countries along the Ring of Fire, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean; up to 90% of the world's earthquakes and some 75% of the world's volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire

note 3: the Atacama Desert - the driest desert in the world - spreads across the northern part of the country; Ojos del Salado (6,893 m) in the Atacama Desert is the highest active volcano in the world, Chile's tallest mountain, and the second highest in the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere - its small crater lake (at 6,390 m) is the world's highest lake


Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021

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